Can you believe that it’s the end of April, and it’s snowing at our cottage in northern Ontario? Canada is a country known for its long, frigid winters… it makes sense that there would be special Canadian terms for winter gear that aren’t often heard elsewhere in the world! Tuque [Audio clip: view full post […]

Have a seat on the couch, and we’ll talk about a term used in Canadian English: chesterfield. Chesterfield [Audio clip: view full post to listen] Example: While watching a sitcom on TV, I laughed so hard, I fell off the chesterfield! Meaning: Chesterfield is a term that I heard frequently growing up in Canada. In […]

My English language vocabulary lesson for today is the word deke. This term originates from Canada, and has its origins in the sport of ice hockey. Deke [Audio clip: view full post to listen] Example: During the hockey game, I made it appear that I was going to take the puck left up the ice, […]

For today’s vocabulary I’d like to take you back to the classrooms of the Canadian schools of my youth, and introduce to you the terms keener and slacker. Keener [Audio clip: view full post to listen] Example: Bert sat in the front row and kept raising his hand to answer all the teacher’s questions. He […]

It’s not good to work for eight or nine hours in a row without taking a break! For one, you are going to get hungry, and want to eat a meal or a snack. For another, you will probably go insane! I know I would if I worked that many hours in a row without […]

In my last post I described some terms for types of lunches you might eat at work. While we’re on the subject of lunches, here’s a good question: what is a liquid lunch? Liquid lunch [Audio clip: view full post to listen] A liquid lunch is a relatively commonly used slang phrase in the English […]

If you work the typical office hours of nine to five, it’s likely that you’re going to be eating lunch at some point during your workday. And if you’re not, you should consider it – you need food for energy in order to get your work done! Since lunch is such an important part of […]

Today I’m going to introduce five commonly used business phrases in English. These phrases can be described as “buzz phrases”… phrases that are commonly used – perhaps even overused – in English language-speaking environments. Business buzz phrases The following are English language phrases used in a business setting. If you work in an office in […]

There are plenty of different ways to greet someone in English; some are considered formal, some informal, while others might even be considered rude when used in the wrong setting. When greeting someone, especially when you’ve been introduced to a person for the first time, some greetings more polite than others. Considering how important first […]

When you finish writing an email in a business setting, it’s considered polite to sign your name at the bottom. True, readers of emails are usually pretty savvy about reading the “From:” field in the emails they receive, and will know it was you who sent them the email even before they start reading it. […]